Amplifying Success: A Symphony of Music, Marketing, and Motivation with Tim Benson

Join us for a fascinating journey as we step into the multifaceted world of Tim Benson, a local music mogul who's truly making waves. As the owner of Music Academy of Acadiana, NetScore, and the band CRYRS, Tim has a wealth of insights to share on music education, digital marketing, and the power of genuine connections. Just imagine, what could you achieve if you manage to harness the potential of digital marketing and social media to amplify your brand’s reach?

In this revealing conversation, we touch on a range of topics - from the vibrant local music scene, the impact of technology on music production and education, to the role Music Academy of Acadiana plays in the local creative economy. We learn from Tim how to effectively script a successful phone call, identify the best buyers and the social media platform to reach them. But that's not all. We also delve into the power of understanding commonalities among people and the need to connect with those who resonate with your brand.

But it's not all about music and marketing; there's much more to this episode. Lastly, we highlight the importance of staying focused on your dreams, regardless of the allure of online influencers and the noise from the internet. Don't miss this enlightening episode, packed with practical advice, local music insights, and a healthy dose of motivation.

AcadianaCasts Presents: Tim Benson!

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Thanks to this week's sponsor: Krewe Allons - The Official NIL Collective for Louisiana Athletics. Join the Krewe TODAY!

Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:11

On today's episode of a cadena cast presents, we got a really exciting guest. This is a renaissance man. If I've ever met one. His name is Tim Benson. He owns and operates music academy of a cadena. He is also the owner of net score, which focuses on digital marketing for small businesses. We're going to talk a little bit about that. Get some advice for folks out there like myself who are struggling with our social medias all that good stuff. He's also the leader of the band called Criers.

Speaker 2: 0:36

We're going to talk about their recent success and what they're doing and the type of music that he's playing. He's a bad man that everything he touches turns gold really, and excited to kind of dive into his brain and hopefully we can learn something together along the way. But before we do that, let's hear from our good friend John Akin, with Crue Along, the NIL collective supporting Raging Cajun athletes. Joining us now is John Akin, president of Crue Along NIL Collective supporting Raging Cajun athletes. John man, this is so exciting, this collective. You know we had you on the show before, but we want to just get you on every now and then real quick to just keep in mind and folks. About this collective. What do folks seem to know how do they get involved?

Speaker 3: 1:17

Man. Thanks for having me, carter. Yeah, there's so much momentum growing and awareness. The best way to get involved is to go on to our website, wwwcruelongcom, and when you go to there, there's several different things. You can join the crew. There's some links to join the crew. You can pick your level. You can donate a dollar. You can donate up to $10,000. There's an FAQ section. There will be a section for our board, so that's a great place to find out information and to get involved.

Speaker 2: 1:50

Alrighty. And what is this collective going to be doing for Cajun athletes? That's different from other collectives.

Speaker 3: 1:57

Sure. So a collective is different from a lot of the giving that goes on on campus, really, and that this directly goes to the student athletes. So every dollar that is given to the collective will directly enhance the experience of UL student athletes through the monetization of their NIL name image and likeness. That may be appearances, that may be opportunities on social media, partnering with businesses, and so ultimately, the collective is just partnering with different individuals and communities in town to help monetize and educate and create brand recognition for our student athletes.

Speaker 2: 2:35

Alrighty guys, you heard the man Go to wwwcruelongcom. That's K-R-E-W-E-A-L-L-O-N-Scom. John, thanks so much for joining us and for all the work you're doing for those athletes.

Speaker 3: 2:48

Thanks brother.

Speaker 2: 2:50

Alright, thanks, john and myself. Now, without further ado, a. Cadianna Kaz presents Tim Benson.

Speaker 3: 3:22

Glad to have you.

Speaker 2: 3:24

I'm Carter Siminoe, host of Cadianna Kaz presents. Go to wwwacadianacazcom for more locally sourced podcasts. If you want to have your voice heard, if you want to do some marketing for your business in the form of the, you know, podcasting digital media which we're going to talk about today, Go to wwwacadianacazcom to do that. You can also check out some of our shows, like Law have Mercy, which has Roberts some really cool episodes. What he does is break down the law in a way that us common folk who don't have law degrees can understand it. He's big on social media. He does that in his show talking to different lawyers, entrepreneurs, people like that. You know, kind of breaking down the law, like I said, in a more digestible form. That's on wwwacadianacazcom. More shows to come, Of course, this show and our guest today, Tim Benson Very happy that you are here.

Speaker 2: 4:07

We've done some work with you, with Love of People. We're starting to with NetScore. I want to talk just briefly about kind of your background. So you went to Karen Crow High, graduated in 96. And then where did you go? You went to UL.

Speaker 4: 4:19

Yeah, sure did. Graduated in the College of the Arts in 2000. Classical guitar studied with a professor by the name of Gerd Rustemann, who actually went on to run the Acadiana Center for the Arts. Literally after the day after I graduated, carter had to fly to Killeen, texas, to play on tour with the band I was playing with at the time.

Speaker 4: 4:38

So, literally it was academic then rock star life Right. So even from back then it was all about just hustling, trying to get the name out there and really try to make it all happen, you know you said classical guitar.

Speaker 2: 4:52

Yeah, I'd noticed that your fingernails are quite short.

Speaker 4: 4:54

You know. So that was used to play classical guitar, Right, so that's good. Good observation, by the way, Thank you. Yeah, I figured the nails were kind of getting in the way of like the shredding so I figured one had to go. Sorry, classical guitar but here we are Right Is classical gas the most played classical guitar song in the world?

Speaker 2: 5:14

That one, or is it even considered classical guitar?

Speaker 4: 5:16

Not necessarily, although I have had that question before. I would say, if you were to pick one, it would probably be a toss up between Bure, which Tenacious D did on one of their records, because it's Bach and I Rock.

Speaker 1: 5:28

Remember that song.

Speaker 4: 5:29

Or D from Randy Rhodes from Ozzie's first record.

Speaker 2: 5:32

that was probably where a lot of our classical guitar guys Okay, man, I'll see like these, like I don't know Korean kids who are like eight years old, just absolutely dominating on tech talk and it makes me want to put a bullet in my brain.

Speaker 4: 5:43

Yeah same here Same here Absolutely miserable. Same here, but you know, props to them and props to where the technology is. Oh right, If we had that technology back in the 90s for me, because I'm an old guy, you know. Yeah, where would we be Right? Probably right here still.

Speaker 2: 5:58

So you did the rock star thing and at some point you started hustling. And what was your first kind of business adventure? Because you got a few, as we kind of talked about in the intro. But we're going to discuss some more. But what?

Speaker 4: 6:10

started it Well, so that's interesting that you asked that question. I think the actual band that I was touring with had a lot of business fundamentals that we practiced Marketing, of course. Of course we didn't call it that back then because we were just trying to promote the next show right or get more people to come to shows or buy the record, but really what we were doing, carter, was building awareness, which is a very big fundamental part of marketing via, at the time, flyers, street teams, some radio play things like that but I would say understanding how to manage people in that setting. Creating an LLC at the time I didn't know what that was until before, you know, before that I didn't know what that was. But then when you're in a band, you're actually in a business If you run it correctly and then getting paid from venues. We had to figure out this thing called taxes, which is always fun. So that was probably my first introduction into what it takes to run a business, or I think in that term.

Speaker 2: 7:07

And when did the Music Academy of Acandia come about?

Speaker 4: 7:11

Yeah, so great question. So I'll give you a quick rundown of leading up to everything from there. So you may not know this, and I don't know if you guys know either. So Liquid Sand, the band I was touring with, we had the chance to sign with the bass player from Three Doors Downs record label in 2005, 2006. Right around that time, though, the manager that was advising us told us to turn down the deal. We did, and then the record deal fell apart because our singer quit and there was a lot of stuff, so everything fell apart. So more of a story is things happen and it sucks, but you got to get over it. But then, after that, I did a few odd jobs, started teaching guitar, and then, 2010, officially opened up as the Music Academy with a few other guitar only teachers, and then, literally from year one, we just had so many more people that were interested in other instruments and we just started hiring more teachers, and there we are.

Speaker 2: 8:00

Yeah, so the Music Academy. It's pretty well renowned winning a bunch of awards, competitions. You guys just won something recently, didn't you?

Speaker 4: 8:06

We sure did the best of a Catiana in the music school category. So 2023. So I think that's our seventh award actually here. Wow we're pretty excited about that.

Speaker 2: 8:16

Okay, obviously great success there, and you know you've been able to impact so many different students. But what is your approach to music education that you think sets you apart?

Speaker 4: 8:26

Good question Personalized, meaningful experience. Not everybody learns the same way. Carter, we want to have a positive experience and we want people to come into music from wherever passion level they are. Some people are like I know I was born to do this and we're going to nurture that. You know, some people and some students, regardless of age, aren't quite sure where they fit in that ecosystem, so we want to gently nurture them to in their own way. We don't expect everybody to come in and be the next Mozart, and they shouldn't be. They should be themselves. It's do you feel like sometimes you're just babysitting? Many times, yeah okay, yeah and that happens.

Speaker 4: 9:00

But listen, at the end of the day, we try to give them the best experience possible, and we wanted them to walk away from each lesson with something that they can Take with them to further their own musical career, wherever that takes them and now what, especially with children?

Speaker 2: 9:14

What is the involvement with parents, especially? Maybe a kid that you see has like it has it? Yeah, and because they have to be part of that, that that growth and nurturing at home. When you can't, yeah, help them in or teach them.

Speaker 4: 9:26

Yeah, you know it's a great question too. I will tell parents listen, your child really show is showing some great interest and promise. I Would suggest just keep, keep them on the path. They could really do something with this if, if you want that for them and if they want that. But we would never say you have to do this or that. We just want to inform them as Advisors and say listen, we, we see a lot of students here and based on our years of experience, we really think your, your child, may have something here. So I took a few guitar lessons as a kid.

Speaker 2: 9:57

My dad showed me some things but mostly self-taught, believe the summer going to my sophomore year in high school. That previous Christmas I got a the Beatles like anthology, all All the entire chord book and something just, you know, kind of clicked in my brain when it came to Chords and how they move together and the musicality that you know. The Beatles, obviously, you know, set many precedents in music, of course, but my dad and I both kind of have this theory that you know, when it comes to children, the first and we hit the key, obviously it's dad failed on this one, but the first thing you should do, if you, if you, if you want to get your kid interested in music, is get them in piano lessons. Do you subscribe to that?

Speaker 4: 10:34

to a degree.

Speaker 2: 10:35

Yes, I do think that you learn more about music and how to read it. I feel like that way true.

Speaker 4: 10:41

The only, the only downside of that is, if they're really not feeling piano, then you actually may inadvertently turn them off completely to music because they're like While in the grand scheme of things, piano would make sense, they have to have the interest enough to stay with it to even get to that point. Otherwise you may have completely turned them away from any instrument because they're like no, I don't like piano at all, I want to do guitar, but you're making me do piano, so I'm just not gonna do anything, and then you may have missed an opportunity there. So there, I think that's the other side of the coin. But by and large, if you like playing music and you're okay with Learning other instruments to while you learn your main instrument, then piano definitely is probably the foundational instrument that you should focus on as well.

Speaker 2: 11:21

Okay, so I've been looking for somebody somebody in a cadiana who can help me learn Chicken picking style guitar Yep. Do you have any recommendations?

Speaker 4: 11:31

You know so, otherwise I'm going online. No, I got you. We had a guy a few years ago that was really Specialized in that. He's actually moved, so currently we do not have anybody in that particular style, so your journey may be continuing online. All right, I hate to say, I hate to break the bearer bad news there.

Speaker 2: 11:47

I already like, clicked on an Instagram ad for this online thing, so that's all I see now on my timeline. Yes, it's different ads for different guitar based music services, but academies or whatnot, welcome digital marketing. Yeah, people like you got me.

Speaker 3: 12:00

We're gonna get into that a little bit but, what more thing about the music Academy?

Speaker 2: 12:04

Oh, a couple things. First off, you know we're in a cadiana, right Like it's one of the most musically diverse or populist places At the youth, or a rock in any direction, and a cadiana hit a bad-ass player, right yeah, three indigenous genres Zydeco, cage and swamp pop. Some argue even some different forms of blues formed here. But Do you do you see that, as as a educator in music, of just talent in this area?

Speaker 4: 12:30

Yeah, no question. Yeah, in fact, back in the day when we were touring, we even had Booking agents and venues from out of the state telling us we always love booking Lafayette and a cadiana bands because you guys are Always on top of it, you're talented, you guys always sound good. I mean, we got that comment for years, so there's definitely something here. If other people are noticing it, do you?

Speaker 2: 12:53

feel like the music Academy of a cadiana is helping to foster that, or this may be a poor choice of words, but almost like taking advantage of this the surplus of talent for your business.

Speaker 4: 13:06

Well, it's an advantage because there is talent here and I do think we are fostering it, because we're just kind of keeping the pipeline of talent.

Speaker 2: 13:13

It's kind of a win-win.

Speaker 4: 13:14

Yeah, it's a win-win.

Speaker 2: 13:15

It's a great way to put it, yeah yeah, and and finally, when it comes to music, right now and you know we see it with all the podcast equipment that I have like to make your own content, whether it's music or you know Stuff like this the access to it has never been easier before correct, and that's the same thing with with music production. You know, people like Billie Eilish made made a Grammy award-winning album in her, in her brother's room. You know, that's not to say that it can completely replace a full music studio, but you guys are Incorporating some of that education from the music production side as well. Yeah, you talk a little bit about that.

Speaker 4: 13:47

Yeah, so we have a recording studio inside the music Academy.

Speaker 2: 13:50

I've been in there.

Speaker 4: 13:51

Yeah, we call it wave theory studios and.

Speaker 2: 13:53

Austin.

Speaker 4: 13:54

Dorey. Austin Dorey is our main producer. He's produced Justin Champagne lovers, clay Cormier our band Criers a lot of regional and even some national artists. So that's a part of it too. And you know, like with University of Louisiana, lafayette has the media media side of it and also the music business side of it too. Which is another facet, that that started when I was there, yeah, which is great, and all of those are viable careers in the music industry, sure farmer Production business, I mean for sure.

Speaker 2: 14:25

Yeah, I mean like producers, Now they have. I mean, it's been going on for over a decade now. But you know producers have their own tags, like they got their own following they do. It's crazy and I love watching those deconstructive videos of you know, kind of like a top 40 song, but yeah, from the producer that's kid in Texas or whatever who just made this beat for post Malone or that's true.

Speaker 4: 14:45

Yeah, totally, you're right on that's. That's what it is right now. Yes, so what?

Speaker 2: 14:49

is your biggest piece of advice when it comes to someone who maybe isn't Instrument instrumentally inclined but is still musically inclined from the production standpoint, will be your starting point for them?

Speaker 4: 15:00

Yeah, that's a good question. I would say just understand a MIDI. Yeah, understand what you're trying to do. Get us get and you get a basic computer. Just mess around with garage band just to get the idea of different tracks and think of it like we would, in the classical terms, as a Composition. You've got different instrumentation. Doesn't matter what the instrumentation is it could be a beat, could be a keyboard part, could be a singing part, but just kind of get your mind wrapped around how that works, regardless of the tools.

Speaker 2: 15:29

That the tools will change, but the fundamentals won't change right man, I totally forgot to say, and when I was plucking a Katie and a cash shows of the tea, which you guys are a major sponsor.

Speaker 4: 15:38

We are, yeah, we've. Actually, we were one of their first, very first major sponsors and Happy to be a contributor to that and I'm happy to be a yeah, welcome, you welcome to the network I love it. I'm all about it. You know, I love about it. I love it too.

Speaker 2: 15:51

They just dawned on me all of a sudden. Yeah, what a CEO I am. So, tim, talk to me about net score. I mean with, with the Academy. Like you could, you could just focus solely on that, but you don't. And you now, you had this thing called net score. You also had phone scores it's still a thing.

Speaker 4: 16:07

Yeah, so phone score nets a lot of scoring going on, a lot of scoring.

Speaker 2: 16:11

What do you?

Speaker 4: 16:11

do? What are you scoring? Yeah, good question. Let's start with phone score first. So a few years ago we got in collaboration with other businesses all over the United States through some of my coaching groups that I'm with, and there was a recurring theme of People that were hiring front desk admin and staff were really having problems with how to convert prospect clients to paying customers. And it wasn't that they're not nice people, it was just there was no system there. So I created a company that would call shop. These businesses give them a score sheet on how well they were following a script. If they didn't have a script, we can help them with the script. And then you helped to train their staff and just be better on the phone. You know for their business, are you?

Speaker 2: 16:57

training these assholes who call me eight times a day.

Speaker 4: 16:59

We don't train them. Actually, we send them to the competition.

Speaker 2: 17:03

No, but I just watched telemarketers. I've mentioned it with Chris Babin on a previous episode as a documentary on HBO. Yeah man, that crazy how that whole world works.

Speaker 4: 17:13

Well, we don't pull like Wolf of Wall Street type stuff. That's a little bit over the top. But you know just basic etiquette, basic procedure, how to greet people, how to understand what they're looking for and how to quickly get them to their desired solution. There's so many businesses that fail at that.

Speaker 2: 17:26

It's evidence based yeah, like, yeah. What makes a good script versus not like? I guess certain verbiage just hooks people in.

Speaker 4: 17:34

Yeah Well, I call it the three components Greeting, fulfillment, decision, right? So hi, thank you for calling. What are you looking for? How can we help you? Great, here's what we can do for you. And then the decision great, I've told you what we can do. What would you like to do next? Very simple, I'm ready to talk more. Yeah Well, and that's the thing. And so you can I mean whoever's listening do this as an exercise. Call a business today and did they do those three things? Did they greet you properly, did they guide you through the solutions? And they ask you what your next step was?

Speaker 4: 18:03

90% chance, no, if anything, you probably will not get the phone picked up. You'll probably get a voicemail and, unfortunately, like some of the industries that are very victim of this are restaurants, believe it or not Like they will just not answer the phone, or they'll answer like you're bothering them, like, well, what, what? Well, so there's 300 restaurants here in Lafayette. I don't have to call you, I can call somebody else. If this is kind of how we're going to start this relationship Now.

Speaker 4: 18:30

NetScore, so you had some success with PhoneScore and then comes NetScore, so that was sort of a byproduct from PhoneScore. A lot of those same businesses were having problems with their social media websites and I said, well, I can kind of do that and I have people I can help train. So a few months later, trained some of my staff to start doing social media ads I've been a web developer for a long time just personally, got a few other people to help with that, and now those businesses that needed help on the phone ironically needed help elsewhere. So we said, great, let's actually put something together. And then there we go, we've got a service that we can provide for them.

Speaker 4: 19:07

And you guys are servicing people all over the United States, all over the world and in many different industries. Right now we're pretty heavy in the medical weight loss industry all over the United States.

Speaker 2: 19:18

So, when it comes to social media, what is the hill that you die on? When it comes to social media, what is something that everyone should be doing, especially small business owners?

Speaker 4: 19:33

Understand your goals and I have a book coming out. I'm sure we'll talk a little bit about that. You can just go onto your Facebook or Instagram or TikTok and you're getting 3,000 different perspectives of what you should be doing, carter. Well, here's the problem. While those might work in certain respects, understand what are you trying to do personally? Am I trying to promote a product? Am I trying to at least let people know that I exist? Those are two very different strategies, just right there. The common mistake that I see on social media is that they listen to everybody else. Well, what you should be doing is this OK, well, I'm in lawn care, but you are an exterminator a little bit different. So, while there could be some things that I could borrow from you, I can't apply everything directly what you're telling me to what I do, because I have different goals and maybe I have a different strategy and things that I want to accomplish with this.

Speaker 2: 20:26

Hopefully that makes sense. Yeah, I mean you and I talked previously off the podcast about a Katie and a Cass and how Nesquirker potentially help, and I know you've got a beautiful pitch coming my way at some point.

Speaker 4: 20:39

Oh, it's beautiful.

Speaker 2: 20:42

But this is my way of soliciting free consultation.

Speaker 4: 20:45

Let's go for it.

Speaker 2: 20:46

So I told you my goals were I want people to know that Katie and a Cass exist as a platform, making content kind of focus on the Katie and area from people that live here, but I also want to put out there that I can make these shows or podcasts or content for you if you're a business owner or a content creator. So, with those two goals in mind and you also asked me, what social media do you see me focusing on the most?

Speaker 3: 21:12

And I answered.

Speaker 2: 21:13

Instagram and you said that was a good idea, so thank you. I'm chock full of them, but where do I go from there? Those are my goals.

Speaker 4: 21:21

Great question. So you've actually answered a lot of questions just in that one phrase. There Got it. You were very smart. You want to know who are the buyers. So once you identify the buyers, then identify the best social media platform to get to those buyers and then understand, well, what are going to make those buyers do something. So you have to put some content either natural posting or paid or both that's going to make those buyers take an action. That's literally the game. That's it right there. So you will be on Instagram. Who is your best buyer? People that may want to patronize the podcast or learn more about it will then understand. Ok, well, let's break those people down. What age group are they? What are their interests? Awesome. Once we know that, well then we can start running some paid ads to that exact profile. And now we just have to figure out what is going to emotionally have them take an action to further their knowledge or relationship in your business. So that's what you have to figure out. Ok, does that make sense?

Speaker 2: 22:18

No, yes, it does. It's just a lot to think about and digest. Oh, I didn't say this was going to be easy. Yeah right, yeah, yeah, shit. I was really hoping for the easy road with things, but would you consider yourself a professional profiler?

Speaker 2: 22:34

Sure, that could be an open-ended question, Social media related, of course? Yeah, of course, Because you're looking at for your clients, let's say a Katie and a Cass being one, you're looking at my targeted audience and with that, OK, what type of person is this? Yes, Are they this or that? Whatever it might skew heavily male or heavily female. So at a certain point, you're profiling people to see how they can benefit this business that you're helping?

Speaker 4: 23:01

Absolutely yes, that's what you want to do. Once you understand who, the who, we have to understand what is going to compel them to either buy or opt in to further their relationship with you, and that's what you want to figure out. What is the hook? What's going to get them hooked to you? It's not my face, I don't know. Man, I think you're a pretty handsome guy. God damn it. I love this guy.

Speaker 2: 23:24

OK, but yeah, honestly, I want to remind folks that, especially in this tumultuous time that we live in, that we're more similar than we are different. I've said that several times on this show, but especially in South Louisiana, people work as a means to an end. I'm sure there are people career driven, like yourself and want to do well in business, but I think people work here that end being celebrating the Joie de Vives, the Doors of Life, showing the festivals, boiling crawfish with family all these things that we do as part of our culture, and I want to bring people together on the positive things that we have here going on, rather than just putting people in these different tribes, this tribalism that we got going on, that we see so much. That's only pushed more through social media. And so that's where my next question was going to be, as someone who has to use social media for work is there a burnout point for you? Do you even use social media on your own?

Speaker 4: 24:20

I do. Yeah, it's partially by necessity, because of the other things that I run.

Speaker 2: 24:24

Because, besides the negativity side of it, it's just so cluttered. I made a Facebook when I was in eighth or ninth grade, and so that was 2008. And there's so many people on my Facebook profile who I don't even know and there's just different algorithms and information coming from all different angles that if you don't speak the language of social media, even growing up with it, it can be a lot. It could be very daunting.

Speaker 4: 24:48

It can. But let me make one quick comment too Be careful in not you don't have to have the answer to everything. Just understand the people that are going to resonate best with you and just try to find ways to connect. That's it. Don't worry about all the other stuff. Don't worry about all this stuff. I love that. Go after the people who you can realistically connect. That's all you got to do. Yeah, that's really all you need to do, and that might eliminate 60% of other people that are in the auxiliary, but that's OK, because you can do a lot with just the 40% that are really interested.

Speaker 2: 25:17

OK, answer me this, and it's really bugging me, but you know, got to the opposite of biting the hand that feeds you, don't bite it.

Speaker 4: 25:26

I will not bite it. Put food in it.

Speaker 2: 25:28

But the videos that have popped off the most for a cadena cast that this show specifically are when there is someone giving a hot take about Cajun culture. Yeah, whether it's food, especially food, but food, you know just the culture in general, difference between Cajun and Creole those are the things that just, yeah, pops off.

Speaker 4: 25:47

Why is that? Why is that? Because it's provocative. Because here in a cadena we have a really deeply rooted Sist, a culture that we've grown up with, and anything that sort of flies in the face of that is Emotionally possibly offensive or provocative for us on some emotional deep level. So we have to. It's almost like it's like a auto response, like oh, I know, they didn't know, they didn't you know it's so. I think there's a natural inclination to sort of defend one's position. Does Tomatoes belong in gumbo? No, and I will fight somebody that argues otherwise.

Speaker 4: 26:23

Okay that's not that now. I will take that to fight fest.

Speaker 2: 26:27

That's fight fest all the way there you go, shout out five Fests, shout out fight. We'll be plugging that in there coming weeks. No, okay, what about potato salad doesn't go in or out the gumbo.

Speaker 4: 26:36

Well, I don't like potato salad, so it that one. I'm either one and your favorite boot and place oh boy, my favorite boot and place, best boot. And in a cadena it's gotta be best stop, I agree, but it's hard. That's a lot from here. You know, don's is good too.

Speaker 2: 26:57

Now, no, don's probably gonna hate me, but Don's is good, billy's is good, carson's is good, they're all great, but it's not about that. Best I boot in though the best of.

Speaker 4: 27:05

I think they've got a little something little lany up in there. It's the spiciest.

Speaker 2: 27:09

I feel like, yeah, which is I like that I like spicy, yeah for sure. Well, anyway, thanks for giving a good take that I can hopefully go viral again on Louisiana and social media. So you talked about your book. What is the general theme of it and when did you have time to write this friggin thing with all the different shit you got going on?

Speaker 4: 27:27

Well, it's a combination of you know, parts and pieces over the last few years. The theme of the book is so the title is actually idiot-proof marketing and it's all about I would buy that immediately, thank you. It's all about simplifying what you're doing as a Self-do or I'm not. I'm not even use like business owner, entrepreneur, because I feel like those words get over. You self-doer, you could be working a nine to five and you have a side hustle or you're trying to further your life. Here's the problem, carter. There's not a lot of great resources for people that Need the basic questions answered. A lot of these resources go right into jargon and you need to hit these KPIs because your, your social media will pop off at 9, 31 pm and a m or whatever. That doesn't matter. You know, what really matters is what am I trying to accomplish in my life? What are the three or one thing that I can do today to further that and help me get there as fast as possible? That's it. Everything else is just clutter. Hmm, fast as possible. Fast as possible, and because here's why I say that we have the technology. We have the technology now to make those things happen faster if we are given the focus and the direction to do it.

Speaker 4: 28:44

The problem is, like you said earlier. We get on social media, we get on Google, we are every day Dragged in a thousand different directions and that's a problem. That is definitely a problem for, I think, americans, because I do a lot of business with people all over the world. I don't notice it as much in Europeans and the Indian culture. I have a few Pakistani folks that are on my staff. They're very focused Carter Americans and again, I'm American, so I'm just kind of speaking to myself to. We have so many distractions, my friend, and and that is while can be good, can also be a problem. Focus is something that I think could really change the game for people if they knew where to direct their energies as fast as possible.

Speaker 2: 29:26

Yeah, I get the things done that are that are most important. I try to siphon out the rest. Yeah, you focus on that. Listen to a Katie in a cast and you're gonna get a cast.

Speaker 4: 29:34

That's right. Yeah, yeah. So the book is really your voice to help keep you On track to reach your goals, and not what somebody, some guru on Instagram said you should be doing, because the guru is an Instagram, probably don't know anything about you and don't really want to know anything about you. They just want your money for their $300 course. That is not gonna do anything for you. Are you calling Gary Vee a grifter? Yeah, take there, you go. I actually cannot stand Gary Vee. Let's go. I think he's a leech. Oh, so I'm gonna go there.

Speaker 2: 30:05

Yeah, I'm gonna get a lot of hate for that leaching off of like young, 19 year old guys.

Speaker 4: 30:09

Well, so here. So here's where we are, I mean, and we can go down that rabbit hole if you want. I mean you want to Joe Rogan this thing. I mean we can, you know? So where's the DMT guys? It's weird I'm gonna get so much hate for this, but that's okay. You kind of have to, as I can. Artist, you have to just put yourself out there.

Speaker 4: 30:27

Yeah so I'm used to like taking a stance, you know, but the problem with guys like Gary Vee, well, I think they can't help some people. I think, more often than not, they tend to Pray upon people's hopes and dreams and they give them just enough to Get them to the next hit of Gary Vee, but not really farther along in the person's own journey, just chasing the Gary Vee dragon. Now, if that Gary Vee dragon gets you to where you want to go, fantastic, sure, fantastic. It is unfortunate, though, there are a lot of people online that don't have that approach, and you could just get off course and again You're losing focus because you're just getting. You know, one month it's like, oh, you need to be doing this. And then, great, you kind of get on a path, and then you've got another Webinar like, oh, you know you actually now, carter, you need to be doing these things, and it's really just to keep you Buying into their stuff.

Speaker 2: 31:19

It seems like you had a really cool balance between obviously you're an educator, music and, with you, know Marketing as well. I would call what you do is an education service, but at the same time you're also preaching like but focus on your shit, like focus on your stuff. There is that balance, but when you can just get bogged down by just trying to learn more, educating yourself wins half the time. If you just do the damn thing, that's it yeah.

Speaker 4: 31:44

Yeah, now on the on the flip side, for those that know, like David Goggins, mm-hmm. I love that guy because he's just no nonsense. Just get up and do it. Or who's the MFC? Oh, what's his name? Oh, oh, and you forcella. Yeah, love that guy because he's literally just that like get up, write your list, do your list, shut up, do your work. That's it. You want to reach your goals? It's right there. Just shut up and do them. Yeah, I think.

Speaker 2: 32:08

I've I've long had a problem and I'm getting better at it, but like seeing you know the dream or whatnot and just love it. I can go to sleep with it right next year, yeah. Kiss it right on the forehead, yeah. But the actual application of it, or the execution Of it, that's that's where I kind of get bogged down like, oh wait this is where.

Speaker 4: 32:26

So that that is what I call the first hurdle, and that hits everybody, and that's really gonna be the first Line of delineation whether you're gonna be a winner or you're just gonna be stuck in the same thing every day. That's, that is the first hurdle. So here's what happens and this is a focal point of the book, by the way, too. You get a new idea. Yay, I want to do this idea. Awesome, go for it. All right, I'm gonna create a website when create a logo, awesome, great.

Speaker 4: 32:48

And then, two months in, you're like you wake up. There's gonna be that Tuesday. You're gonna wake up. It's rainy outside, it's. You just feel like crap Doesn't matter. You got to do your work because you've already committed to this. Now you, if you want that dream, you want to sit on the pillow and Realize what you've been dreaming about for the last however long. You have to embrace those days and understand that's part of this journey. Most people have different levels of tolerance to that. Some can push through and go like you know what? I get it, this is part of it. I'm gonna push through. And then, and then Wednesday and Thursday and Friday happens and it's much better, but you got to push through that first hurdle. But that first hurdle is the line of delineation between winners and Underachievers.

Speaker 2: 33:31

I've also found that whenever I'm, you know, working towards that or you've been consistently working like, finishing a project Helps what's the word I'm looking for? It evolves, yeah, into more productivity, yeah, so just kind of builds on top of each other like I'm excited Okay, I got that done. What else can I do?

Speaker 4: 33:52

Right, right, if you can retrain your brain to a point, of course.

Speaker 4: 33:55

Yeah, absolutely Watch football or something. Yeah, and there's nothing wrong with that. I think I'm going up on that. That sort of mindset you want to reach that big goal, you have to get away from the I'm gonna be motivated by the dopamine hits, right, and that's. That's hard for people. It's hard for me too.

Speaker 4: 34:15

I mean, I'm a human, for God's sakes, right, you have to just understand that you got to fall in love with the process of what you're trying to do, the, the folks that are like, hey, I'm about to do this on and they announce it. What they're really doing is trying to give themselves a dopamine hit of like I'm gonna go, I'm about to accomplish something. Well, you really haven't done anything yet. You know, and I'm not judging you, I'm just saying if you want to do these things, do them. Yeah, let let let your actions make that proclamation right. What I feel is Could could hinder people is that they think that when they don't have the dopamine hits, that they're on the wrong track, when actually it's the opposite. It's if they can still perform when they're unmotivated and Undopamine if that's even a word then they are gonna achieve Lifelong success because they can overcome that need. For I need the instant reward to get to the next step.

Speaker 2: 35:09

This is a generic interview podcast question, but where do you get your motivation?

Speaker 4: 35:14

How deep do you want to go, carter? So I was raised very, in a very poor family. I did not have a father. My motivation is I refuse to ever live a life where I was Moving every year, which I was it was borderline homeless. I don't ever live like that again. I don't want my wife to live like that. I don't want my child to live like that. So that is my motivation. So I Want to do great things. I want to be a role model to people and hopefully inspire them. That's, that's what gets me going every day, and I understand that I'm probably an outcast in some respects, but that's okay. I kind of embrace that. I embrace that chip on my shoulder. I performed very well under those circumstances.

Speaker 2: 35:55

I love that, yeah, man. I mean, obviously you know, with your background as a child you have that motivation. But I imagine I don't have this feeling as I don't have kids. But once you have a child, like it just like tenfold even more you know, it's true it really does change the game.

Speaker 4: 36:10

But yeah, I just want to give her the best life as possible, you know, as a parent and a provider and as a husband of my wife you know how old is she, my wife. It's like why do you?

Speaker 2: 36:21

ask I don't think, I don't think you want you to answer seven.

Speaker 4: 36:24

She said Do you have her music lessons? We do, you know? It's interesting. I don't think she, she, is musically inclined. I don't know if that's her passion yet, mm-hmm, whereas I kind of knew, like I was beating drums when I was four and like my Dad was a musician before he he left. My grandfather was a French musician, so I ran our blood, my cousins, so I knew, I Knew I was gonna be in music.

Speaker 2: 36:46

Well, talk about music. Let's talk about cryers. Yep, you guys, it's like the bands would like less than a year old about a year, right at a year actually, but you guys are playing some, some big venues. Yeah, I Imagine your expertise in digital marketing has helped with that, but how else have you guys been able to find success so quickly?

Speaker 4: 37:07

So let's use your example about the podcast. We understood who our market was. We figured out what are the best ways to get to those people. Where are they for one tick tock Instagram, some Facebook. What content can we give them to show what we do that resonates with them? So videos that showcase our songs, our live show, directed at those people that would be most interested to do something. And the next step would be Check out our website, check out our Spotify, check out our next show, and that's really the secret just showing what we do to the people, that we're gonna resonate with it, and putting a product that represents that as best as we can.

Speaker 2: 37:45

So we share an editor and I wanted to know because I just hired this schmuck, I wanted to know what makes him so good. What makes what so good?

Speaker 4: 37:55

what makes Jai Benwas so good at editing. Oh my gosh, Jai. I'll tell you and I've worked with a lot of projects now with Jai he has got a Fantastic technical sense and he's got the right amount of artistic flair that makes it all come together. You can't teach that. You cannot teach that. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 38:15

No, there was a couple editing decisions that he made in a previous episode that, like that, just only enhanced the humor of the moment. Yeah, that that a good editor only good editor could see.

Speaker 4: 38:23

And you know, jai, I think I can make this comment. I think you find what emotionally hits you and you put that into your work and that hits people. You don't just say, well, the lighting Mathematically should work here, because the book says this. No, you've got a good instinct and you know what emotionally Would make sense, because if it emotionally hits you, it's gonna emotionally hit the viewer. I had another camera.

Speaker 2: 38:46

I could have stuck it on Jai and we could have seen we can we can. Hey, I put a picture of yourself awkwardly somewhere in the frame in post Like a middle school picture. But man, okay, that's so good. And the the genre is what pop punk pop, punk, emo, post hardcore.

Speaker 4: 39:04

A lot of the stuff that I listened to when I was in my early 20s. Like what type of artist they use my chemical romance fallout boy blink 182 Taking back Sunday Sailson under oath it's wild that that genre is almost in like the classic rock territory.

Speaker 2: 39:19

It is yeah, just just. But just with time being passed and the, I've seen some pop punk shows where, like just the crowd is all people around. You know they're all millennials.

Speaker 4: 39:29

And they're, yeah, and they're in there in their early 30s, mid 30s. Now they have the disposable income to go out to shows and to kind of do the things that Maybe when they were 18 would have been nice to do, but we couldn't go because I had school, I couldn't afford it. Now they can right, and it just seems to have taken off again. This whole genre is really Kind of had a renaissance.

Speaker 2: 39:49

Why I know there's so many songs in that genre that I do love. It was a big part of my childhood. But why is it that most of the singers across the genre and I might be generalizing here but sound like whiny babies?

Speaker 4: 40:03

I think is it tapped into a sense of I'm so sad, I'm so angry. Can we get him in our band, because that's really good man, that's actually really good.

Speaker 2: 40:16

Hit me up, I'll give you my raise. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4: 40:18

I you know. It's interesting that that's actually been a very interesting topic with a lot of music Influencer influencers over the years. Why that type of vocal approach? My best guess to that is, you know, like the 90s were very so there was like a rebellion against the 80s right or the 80s aesthetic where everything hair, band stuff.

Speaker 2: 40:39

Yeah, then Nirvana kind of just right. Really, we know that they crushed that and they kind of crushed that.

Speaker 4: 40:45

And then we got into the 90s and then, like about the mid 90s, things were sort of like bubblegum happy type stuff and there was an undercurrent of, I guess, adolescent youth that still felt disenfranchised and that was like and I think, and I do think, probably like the whole 2001 September 11th thing, really turned that the conversation back inward of like you know, where do I fit in, you know, in this crazy world? And I think that is what sparked that whole movement. Yeah, there was already there, but I think it was like it catapulted that, because then you have bands like Lincoln Park were really starting to take off and Obviously all the bands that I just mentioned earlier but it was. It was like the 90s were kind of happy go lucky for a lot of people, but there was still an underserved youth that felt like outsiders and they needed a voice.

Speaker 2: 41:36

Yeah, I mean that that was put really really well. I never thought about it like that. I mean, emo is short for emotional right so that that makes sense. Do you have like a favorite song that you, that y'all play that like a cover it changes every like week.

Speaker 4: 41:53

I don't know right now I don't know. Dear Maria from all-time low is probably one of my all-time favorites. We do ghost of you from my chemical romance, which is a pretty, you know, heart pulling song as well too as they all are. Yeah, it changes, man. Tomorrow it'll be reinventing your exit from under oath, because I like the screamy stuff, you know.

Speaker 2: 42:14

Answer me this as a guitar player, I feel like there's a lot of weird tunings in that genre?

Speaker 4: 42:20

Yeah, there is. You know you got your standard ones, but you do have some drop D, you do have D standard, which is everything down a full step and then they detune from there. So, yeah, you see a lot of that. Do you do that on stage? There's some songs where we have some crazy tunings.

Speaker 2: 42:35

How many guitars do you have on you per gig?

Speaker 4: 42:38

Four yeah, that was actually more of it. It was like six at one point, but we kind of streamlined how many of those.

Speaker 2: 42:44

Are any of those just for backups, or they all for a different?

Speaker 4: 42:47

They're all for different songs, and so one thing that I pride ourselves on is we do every single song and its original key. So, that means we have to make sure the tuning lines up, then so be it. It sucks for the singers. Well, we have a female singer, we have two singers actually, so we can cover a broad spectrum of vocal tonality.

Speaker 2: 43:06

What do you guys play around Louisiana? So as any like regular kind of spots.

Speaker 4: 43:10

Yeah, feed and seed. Here in Lafayette, all ages show. We're playing in Shreveport and a few shows Bears and Strange Brew we played at Chelsea's in Baton Rouge, we played in New Orleans, we play. We're playing in Lake Charles. I don't know if I can make that announcement.

Speaker 2: 43:23

Yeah, panorama Music house comes out in a few weeks.

Speaker 4: 43:25

Yeah, Panorama and Lake Charles. We've played in Florida, we played in Mississippi, so you know Gulf Coast.

Speaker 2: 43:33

Gotcha, I just realized that I'm wearing a Covington shirt on a KDN and cast, but I'm just my own cast, covington cast, is coming soon near you. Already got the domain.

Speaker 1: 43:44

There you go.

Speaker 2: 43:47

So yeah, I think that's the reason I said that I was like you don't need to play a show in Covington, let's do it.

Speaker 4: 43:52

I got some spots. We're all about it. We'll show up and just screen ourselves out.

Speaker 2: 43:57

Do you have a favorite venue in Acadiana Wow? Oh and how about this? So it's not a conflict of interest in pissing off other venues? What, as a music listener or music fan, what is your favorite spot?

Speaker 4: 44:14

For novelty purposes, I would say Grant Street, because I've seen so many iconic bands. I saw Incubus there. Wow, I saw quite a few bands there.

Speaker 3: 44:22

Buck. Cherry came a couple years ago Buck.

Speaker 4: 44:23

Cherry came a few years ago. I didn't see that show, but it was just. I've seen so many national bands play there. Korn played there. I didn't see that show, but they did play there. System of Down played there. People don't realize how many big bands went through Grant Street laugh yet, right.

Speaker 2: 44:39

But they also had a great show for Acadiana music. That was like a trail ride or something like that. My parents used to come back in the day. They would travel across the state to go to that show and then they opened it back up, I think at the very end of my college career, but it was kind of just like a supplement. For what was the keg? Yeah, same ownership Right, I played a gig there too for some weird show, but I would love to see it Because I love seeing downtown kind of grow, as I've been here.

Speaker 4: 45:07

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 45:08

Different really cool spots for music and entertainment and whatnot. So I would love to see that place just come back. It'd be great. Yeah, which I don't know, is it still?

Speaker 4: 45:17

operational right now. It's kind of like it goes through phases, so that's a good question.

Speaker 2: 45:21

Yeah, yeah, got to talk to Ben Powers with Development Life.

Speaker 4: 45:23

Yeah, he would probably know. He knows everything.

Speaker 2: 45:26

Apparently he really does. I like when he gets in like social media spats or stirs the pot on purpose, but speaking of man knows how to get that engagement.

Speaker 4: 45:35

No, he really does. Again, provocative Right. So that's kind of that really does resonate with people, more or less. What I was going to say was we wanted to. There's a Waffle House coming to Youngsville, so Criers wanted to actually play outside of Waffle House because Waffle House is very dear to our hearts. Hell, yeah, you know You're a musician. It's a working person's place to go eat before and or after a show, maybe both.

Speaker 2: 46:00

Never.

Speaker 4: 46:00

Never close, always open. That's it, man Like Jamar.

Speaker 2: 46:03

Chase. Ok, so wrapping up here. This will probably be the longest list of plugs that we've had on the show so far, because you're involved with so many different things. But start with the Academy and then you know. Phone score, net score, criers the book. Where can people find all information?

Speaker 4: 46:22

about Tim Henson. Awesome Musicacademyacadianacom. You can find everything out about our music school Phone score. Phone score pro P-R-Ocom for mystery calling. If you need our team to mystery call your business and give you scores, that's what we do. Net score, netscoreprocom. Digital marketing. So if you have questions about how to up your digital game, we can help with that. Criers Criersbandcom. And you can see all of the upcoming tour dates. And yeah, and I'm on Facebook trolling around. You know Love it.

Speaker 2: 46:54

Real quick. As far as AcademyCast, the name of the game is Content. Yes, it's the name of a lot of people's game right now. Do you think we're in a bubble when it comes to independent content creation? Well, or is this just the start?

Speaker 4: 47:08

of the future. It's possibly both. What you're trying to do is so. This is a war of attention currency. That's the war you're fighting, right? So the question is, if we're in attention currency, are we in a bubble? Well, I don't think people's attention is going to go. I mean, people want to consume content. I don't think that's going away. So the question is how do we best serve the people that are going to respond to that content? In some ways, I don't think there's a bubble. I just think there's going to be more and more tools and content creators that are coming out. So your job is to just keep the content going provocative, gets people talking and find the voice that resonates best with you and your platform and let people start doing following you.

Speaker 2: 47:56

Yeah, it seems like, if anything, I don't think it's going away, it's no. This audience is just figuring out what to do because these power structures that have been in place the past 60, 70 years with Hollywood, big corporate news, the music industry, all of these things now people can find the type of content that they want that's independently created or sourced, and they're discovering that and they're going directly to the source rather than through all the layers of bullshit that some of these other giant conglomerates have created over the years. And that's where I see the value and doing something that I'm trying to build with a Katie and a Cass is taking that instead of outsourcing. Ideally, I want to create content like have our own swamp people right, instead of outsourcing that to a history channel or any, or whatever it's all you know.

Speaker 4: 48:48

I have one piece of advice for you too. You kind of spurred something that I talked about this on another podcast, specifically for the music industry, but this is applicable here too. What you are really trying to do, carter, is get a fan base of you and your brand right. The content is just the tools to facilitate that end goal. The platforms is just the tools to help facilitate that as well. So, the real end game you asked me earlier what is the hill you were going to die on, tim the content is only serving a greater purpose, which is getting people to subscribe to your mailing list and get involved with your community, which is something you can grow aside from Instagram, facebook, tiktok. You'll have your mailing list forever. You can keep marketing and keeping in touch with all of these people, because all of these people are interested in what you are doing, and the channels of growing that are going to be through the content. But the content is not the end goal. That's just the means to the end, which is building your community.

Speaker 4: 49:45

Damn, I'm ready to go to work. Does that make sense? Yeah, so you need a platform that can really get these contacts and cultivate them on a meaningful way. If you do that, you're going to have those math out there that you can a lot of marketers. They'll say well, if your list is 1,000 people and you have this type of product, you can expect to start making this type of profit. 10,000 subs, subscribers on your mailing list, and it just builds and the content is just helping more people get onto that list. That's it. Mailing lists that's really and that's the secret for criers as well too. We have a list of about in what CRM we've got about 700 or so contacts total via messages and emails and phone calls and so on, texting and everything, because the socials drive all that. But we really just mark it to that list over and over again. That's the trick. You want to know the secret? That's it. Right there, gotcha.

Speaker 2: 50:39

Well, tim, I really appreciate talking with you. Man, get to know you. You've got a fascinating story and definitely inspiring and what you do and the output you're able to do, and also part of your output is helping people like myself, so I absolutely it's awesome that you're doing that and part of our community. As we end every episode, we're going to get you to stare at this camera right here. Your one shot and it is your platform, your open platform, for you to talk some shit. You could give some advice, you could give a slogan. Whatever you want to do a plug again, whatever you want to do, the floor is yours as we wrap up this episode.

Speaker 4: 51:12

Well, thank you for that, Carter. I appreciate having you having me on your show. My biggest advice is block the noise. Follow your dreams. Don't worry about what everybody else is saying. Just do the things that are going to move you forward. That's it.

Speaker 1: 51:27

That's it, hey, thanks for tuning into the show. Since you made it this far, mind as well, give us a like, a follow, a subscribe. You know whatever you've got to do to alert you that there's a new episode out. Look, it helps us grow and it allows us to give you the content that, well, you deserve. If you want to be a sponsor, if you want to be a guest, if you just want to berate me, hey, all goes to the same place. Info at akadienacastcom. Email info at akadienacastcom.

Speaker 1: 51:55

And for more local resource podcasts go to akadienacastcom. Bye.